Optivolt

UtilitiesCalifornia, United States11-50 Employees

Optivolt is driving global energy abundance through breakthroughs in solar power electronics.

The Problem: Despite its potential, solar supplies just 5% of global energy—limited by fundamental technical barriers. Minor shading can reduce power output by 90%, while systems remain bulky, expensive, time-consuming to install, and prone to failure.

Optivolt's Breakthrough: We realized deep integration between solar panels and power electronics unlocks an entirely new design space for innovation. This led us to inventing the Balancer (8 patents issued, 27 pending), an advanced power electronics device which embeds inside solar panels. Balancers work by shuffling power from stronger to weaker zones in the panel to keep power flowing, maximizing energy output and reliability. 

Performance vs. $8B market leader:
• Up to 6x higher power output in real-world conditions
• 40% lower equipment cost, 50% faster to install
• 4x less failure points, while eliminating hotspots (#1 solar failure mode)

Balancers cut the cost of solar by up to 40%, which for the first time, makes solar cheaper than the grid—everywhere. Recognizing the impact, the U.S. Department of Energy is participating in funding of Optivolt’s development.

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